Al Siraat College defends $330,000 rent hike as staff consider strike
The principal of Epping’s Al Siraat College says it is not a conflict of interest for him to also be the director of the company which owns the school’s land.
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The principal of an independent Islamic school in Epping which leases its land from a company for which he is a director has defended a rent rise of $330,000 in four years.
Online financial statements show Barakah Properties, of which Fazeel Arain is listed as the managing director, had increased rent at Al Siraat College’s 45 Harvest Home Rd site by hundreds of thousands of dollars from the start of 2014 to the end of 2017.
Mr Arain is also the principal of the school.
Mr Arain said the company had “significantly increased investment” in the college site including the purchase of more land and construction of new buildings.
“Just as would occur in a typical loan scenario, significant borrowings to fund infrastructure will result in increased repayments,” he said.
Financial statements show rent of the school’s site was $570,000 in 2014, $650,000 in 2015, $750,000 in 2016 and $900,000 in 2017.
Figures for 2018 are not yet available.
In late 2017 the school started work on a three-storey building for Year 3 to Year 9 students.
Whittlesea Leader is not suggesting Mr Arain is operating in a conflict of interest by holding the two positions at the same time.
Mr Arain said the school’s leadership structure was in “accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations”.
But news of the significant rent increases has left a sour taste for some teachers at the school who are taking industrial action after a fourth round of pay negotiations with Mr Arain failed.
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Independent Education Union Victoria and Tasmania organiser Simon Schmidt said some teachers were being paid between $2500 and $9000 less a year than teachers in equivalent positions at other schools.
Teachers also do not receive paid maternity leave.
A teacher who did not want to be named said the lack of investment in teachers during a time of “significant investment” in infrastructure was frustrating.
“He (Mr Arain) sees an investment in staff as an investment he could lose should those staff members leave, but an investment in the school grounds is one that he can keep,” the teacher said.
Mr Arain said investments in school infrastructure had “no impact on staffing matters”.
“The two issues are totally unrelated,” he said.
He declined to answer questions about whether in his role as managing director of Barakah Properties he had the final sign off in setting the annual rent amount, or whether in his role as principal of Al Siraat College he had the final decision to accept the rent increases.
“As I’ve pointed out, our governance structure is audited and accords with our legal and regulatory obligations,” Mr Arain said.